What happens when a flight is overbooked?

You’ve arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare, checked your luggage, and made it through airport security. But that’s when you hear the bad news—the airline is removing you from an overbooked flight.

While a fairly common occurrence, encountering an overbooked flight during a busy trip is disconcerting, especially if it means missed connections. But don’t despair: Here’s what happens when a flight is overbooked, your rights as a traveler, and some ways to cope with the inconvenience. 

How do flights get overbooked? 

Flights get overbooked when the airline deliberately sells more tickets than seats available on the plane. Unfortunately, if the airline can’t find enough volunteers, the ground crew must deny boarding to some passengers. The good news is that dropped passengers are entitled to compensation—should the airline act in bad faith or refuse to reimburse passengers, they face legal issues for failing to follow federal regulations.

Why do airlines overbook flights? 

Carriers anticipate passenger cancellations, missed flights, and last-minute adjustments to travel plans. By overbooking, airlines can avoid flying with empty seats, thus maximizing their flight revenue and increasing profitability.

If there are more passengers than seats available on the plane, the airline will ask for volunteers to give up their seats in exchange for compensation in the form of cash or credit for future flights. 

Who gets bumped on an overbooked flight?

When incentives aren’t enough to encourage passengers to give up their oversold seats, the airline must bump passengers from the flight. The carrier determines who to remove from a flight based on pre-established criteria, including:

• Check-in times
• Fare class
• Frequent flyer or loyalty status

If you’re late checking into an economy fare without registering for frequent flyer miles, the ground crew will likely place your name into a pool of passengers to bump. From there, they’ll randomly select passengers to reschedule on later flights.

Can you volunteer to get bumped?

You may wish to volunteer to get bumped from an overbooked flight. For passengers with flexible travel plans who choose to reschedule an overbooked flight, compensation can be quite lucrative.

Overbooked flight compensation varies between airlines, but typically it includes:

• Flight credits and free tickets
• Cash
• Meal vouchers
• Upgrades

Compensation is generally negotiable, so don’t hesitate to request dollar amounts, specific flights, seat upgrades, or valuable extras like a pass to the first-class lounge. Also, double-check whether accepting travel vouchers or other incentives makes you ineligible for cash damages.

If you do volunteer to give up your seat, be aware that you won’t qualify for claims against your travel insurance policy. This means that if something else goes wrong on your next flight, your insurance may not cover it.

What to do if you get bumped from an overbooked flight

If the airline bumps you from an overbooked flight, don’t panic. Here’s how to get yourself back in the air.

1. Stay calm

Airline overbooking isn’t the ground crew’s fault, so be reasonable and polite to the people whose job it is to get you on your way. Respect resolves a situation faster than a temper, and a little levity might get you a better reimbursement. 

2. Ask questions

Overbooking is only one reason a carrier may bump you from a flight. For example, there may be a mechanical issue, and the replacement aircraft doesn’t carry as many passengers. This information is essential, especially if you plan to file a travel insurance claim later. 

3. Familiarize yourself with overbooking policies

Before you fly, educate yourself about the policies regulating overbooked flights, starting with the airline and travel insurance provider. Policies differ for international flights versus domestic flights, or whether you've booked a one-way fare or a round trip, so review the carrier and national policies regulating denied boarding compensation.

4. Hold on to documentation

Keep your reservation confirmation, boarding pass, and other flight documentation within reach, and request and fill in an involuntary denied boarding form from the gate agent. These documents prove the airline denied boarding and that overbooking passengers impacted your travel plans, backing your compensation claim.

5. Request an alternative flight

Before accepting compensation, request the airline book you into an empty seat on the next flight departing for your destination rather than flying standby. If the carrier can’t comply, you can negotiate higher damages to make up for the delay, including cash and vouchers for hotels, meals, and ground transportation.

6. File an insurance claim

Always check your travel insurance policy. Some travel reward credit cards include delay insurance among their perks, while traditional insurers may not address overbooking directly. However, some will cover related issues like trip delays, alternative transport, or canceled hotel reservations. Finally, there may be a time limit on filing a compensation claim with an insurer or the airline, so be doubly sure by checking before leaving the airport.

7. Ask to be comped

Discuss compensation with the gate agent or ground crew. Along with booking a reservation on a later flight, find out if the airline covers meals, refreshments, accommodation, or ground transport in addition to free tickets or a cash refund. Don’t be afraid to ask for perks—you might be surprised what you get.

8. Keep your receipts

In addition to your ticket, boarding pass, and the denied boarding form, save every expense receipt incurred because of the overbooking—even ones that may seem incidental. You can use these records to secure additional funds from your compensation claim.

Manage your business trip flexibly with Engine

Getting bumped from a business flight due to overbooking can throw a major wrench into your travel plans—unless you made your reservation with Engine. 

Engine provides a streamlined corporate travel experience that removes the headache caused by planning, booking, and managing flights, hotels, and rental cars. Travelers can arrange all the details of their upcoming trip on one convenient, easy-to-use platform.

If plans go awry due to overbooked seats, flight delays, or other issues, Engine’s 24/7 customer support is available to get you rebooked and compensated immediately. At Engine, easy and convenient travel is our first priority.